CASE STUDY / EVENT BRANDING + COLLATERAL
A Groundbreaking Weekend: Event Branding Worthy of a Presidential Guest List
SMITHSONIAN NMAAHC • EVENT BRANDING • PRINT
The Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture needed a complete suite of materials for its groundbreaking weekend: a logo, invitations, a keepsake program, menus, VIP credentials, place cards, and more. The date was fixed and non-negotiable, the guest list included President Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, former First Lady Laura Bush, Oprah Winfrey, and Congressman John Lewis, and every piece had to be worthy of the history this museum exists to tell.
THE PROBLEM
After my invitation design won the national RFP, my team and I were awarded the full event suite. I chose a gold-bronze color for the logo, which was engraved for the invitation and rendered in metallic ink across all other collateral. The invitation became the springboard for a 16-page, magazine-style keepsake program woven from historical imagery, quotes from leaders and artists, and letters from two presidents. As the deadline approached, I worked on-site at the Smithsonian's Washington offices to finalize approvals and specify papers, inks, and a vellum sleeve with the print vendors.
THE APPROACH
THE OUTCOME
Every piece delivered for the fixed date, and the program outlived the weekend: NMAAHC ordered a second print run of approximately 20,000 copies to give as mementos.
Scope also included: event logo, invitations with vellum sleeve, menus, VIP credentials, place cards, and print production management across every piece.
National RFP
WON FOR THE INVITATION, THEN AWARDED THE FULL EVENT SUITE
16 Pages
MAGAZINE-STYLE KEEPSAKE PROGRAM, SADDLE-STITCHED WITH A GLOSS FINISH
~20,000
SECOND-RUN PROGRAM COPIES ORDERED AS MEMENTOS
1 Date
A PRESIDENTIAL GUEST LIST AND NO ROOM TO SLIP
Scope also included: All social media graphics for the report launch, plus a PowerPoint presentation and a one-page brief for the media toolkit
The event logo. Drawn from renderings of the building's hand-woven basket form, finished in gold-bronze on every piece, engraved or in metallic ink.
The keepsake program. Sixteen pages of imagery, quotes, and letters from two presidents, designed in a magazine style that guests kept.
A sampling of the suite. One identity carried across every piece a guest touched over the weekend.
Process note: Engraving and metallic ink render the same color differently, so the suite was specified piece by piece to read as one rich family across different stocks and processes. The last step before press was a working trip to Washington to finalize the designs with the Smithsonian team, plus one addition worth waiting for: President Obama's letter for the program.
It was an honor to design for an event of this magnitude, and a career highlight to have my work chosen through a national RFP.
How I Work With Communications Teams
Most engagements begin with a manuscript: Word files, statistics, photo folders, and a brand guide. I build the design system around your content's structure, turn your data into publication-quality graphics in your brand, and manage edits through clearly versioned rounds so nothing gets lost between drafts. On the production side, I bring twenty years in the print industry and thousands of pieces sent to press. I speak your printer's language, spec the job so it prints the way it was designed, and manage estimates, proofs, and press checks through delivery, holding costs on budgets large and small. Fixed launch dates are treated as fixed.
Planning an event or a milestone moment?
Thirty minutes, no obligations. We'll talk about your date, your audience, and every piece the moment deserves.
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